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Chemical Compatibility With Roof Cleaning Chemicals ?

Guest

Brass has always worked well for me Chris,..the key is rinsing,..which is something I do EVERYTIME. Cole-Parmer is simply a reference which is nice to have,..but my experiences trump everything else. I don't care what a reference rates a material at, it is just that,..a reference.

Jeff

RCIA Founder

Raystown Roof Cleaning Central PA 1-800-236-0322 wrote:
Brass has always worked well for me Chris,..the key is rinsing,..which is something I do EVERYTIME. Cole-Parmer is simply a reference which is nice to have,..but my experiences trump everything else. I don't care what a reference rates a material at, it is just that,..a reference.

Jeff

We have used Brass too Jeff, and there even may be Brass still on one of our 2 roof cleaning trucks confuse

When we break, we go for the nearest parts place, and will use ANY fittings, except steel or Nylon.

NEVER USE NYLON, it will fail w/o any warning, and fail much faster then Brass.

Because our pumps are made out of Kynar, and we do not use hose reels, we NEVER ever rinse out anything, ever!

Our trucks carry 250 feet of 5/8 Hose, and if you do the math, there is quite a bit of roof cleaning chemical trapped in that hose.

If we do 3 to 5 roofs a day, and rinse after every job, imagine all that chemical we would waste ?

Not to mention all the extra time it takes to rinse.

It adds up, and 5 to 10 extra minutes in traffic here in Tampa 3 to 5 times a day may compromise our ability to get roof cleaning jobs done.

Guest

Chris, there isn't any wasted mix,..not sure how you would rinse??..But I run the mix right back into the tank and then let the water run for a few minutes,..or until I get to the level where it needs to be for the next round of mix.

Jeff

RCIA Founder

Raystown Roof Cleaning Central PA 1-800-236-0322 wrote:
Chris, there isn't any wasted mix,..not sure how you would rinse??..But I run the mix right back into the tank and then let the water run for a few minutes,..or until I get to the level where it needs to be for the next round of mix.

Jeff

LOL Jeff, back when I was working, I would hop up onto the flatbed, and run the mix right back into the tank. But employees will seldom do this! They will simply open the ball valve and wait till fresh water runs out onto the concrete.

Regardless, my goal was to develop a roof cleaning system that would not require rinsing.

I have succeeded in the attainment of my goal. We never ever rinse our system out. No need to!

Everything in the path of the roof cleaning chemical is chemical proof, except when we are forced to place a metal fitting in place of a PVC or Kynar one that broke.

Guest

You need better employees.

Jeff

J AND E GUTTER · Premium Member Roof Cleaning Institute of America

chris good stuff. i use 1/2 poly braid..did the math.. 250 ft on the reel . is appox 5 gallons left over...

Guest

We made a minor change to the rigs last year that has made rinsing easier than ever (otherwise, they don't get rinsed as often as they should). Connect a garden hose to a fitting, turn two ball valves and rinse with household water pressure. There's no need to even turn the pump on. Typically you can hear the tip spew a bit of air during the transition from mix to water. No priming, no spills and no drips.

Edward - 5 gallons on the dot bud. Welcome!

RCIA Founder

J AND E GUTTER wrote:
chris good stuff. i use 1/2 poly braid..did the math.. 250 ft on the reel . is appox 5 gallons left over...

Yep, and 5/8 wave hose holds even more roof cleaning chemical.

Now, if you rinse your equipment 4 times a day, and let your hose run out onto the cement with 250 ft of 5/8 hose, that's about 7 gallons of mix you waste every time you rinse!

So, 7 times 4 equals 28 gallons of mix you just pizzed away, each day!

If you work 20 days a month, thats 560 gallons of roof cleaning chemical LOST each month!

But, let's say you rinse your hose back into your tank 4 times a day ?

250 feet of 5/8 hose holds 7 gallons of mix, but wait! You are going to have to allow the water to run awhile, to be sure your chit is rinsed well!

So, let's be "kind", and say each rinse your do introduces 15 gallons of water into your mix!

4 times 15 gallons equals 60 additional gallons of water you have dumped into your tank, each day!

Imagine how that amount of water will effect the strength of your roof cleaning mix ?

No Thank You , been there, done that, got missed spots from weakened roof cleaning mixtures, and pissed off customers we had to return to, and do over!

Or, we wasted nearly 560 gallons of mix every month, all to rinse out chit that does not require any rinsing!

Well, it did require rinsing, until I said "enough is enough", and discovered a system for roof cleaning that if implemented correctly, never ever needs rinsed.

Yes, it does require a KYNAR Pump, and you will have to give up the hose reels too.

We have not used hose reels in almost 4 years, and we don't miss the leaky POS's either, that rob our roof cleaning pumps of both pressure and flow!

Not one bit!

Many of you will be forced to rinse out your equipment, because you don't have KYNAR pumps, and/or are still using hose reels.

And, by all means, rinse well if the above applies to you, or your equipment will soon fail.

dabber · Premium Member Roof Cleaning Institute of America

Chris Thank you what a great site , love it , put in Kynar , thats the ticket , the air diophram pump with Kynar guts 125 big roofs not a single issue , thank you so much for recomending that pump to me , 3/8 aro Thanks Dabber

RCIA Founder

dabber wrote:
Chris Thank you what a great site , love it , put in Kynar , thats the ticket , the air diophram pump with Kynar guts 125 big roofs not a single issue , thank you so much for recomending that pump to me , 3/8 aro Thanks Dabber

You are welcome my friend!

dabber · Premium Member Roof Cleaning Institute of America

When you are using kynar, there is no need to rinse , if you really want no worries you can just rinse kynar stuff out at the end of the day , however I can remember somone I think it was Cris ,said that resi, due from the SH can build up in the pump causing problems if you never rinse them out is that true Dabber

RCIA Founder

dabber wrote:
When you are using kynar, there is no need to rinse , if you really want no worries you can just rinse kynar stuff out at the end of the day , however I can remember somone I think it was Cris ,said that resi, due from the SH can build up in the pump causing problems if you never rinse them out is that true Dabber

That CAN be true, and actually happened when we turned off the feed from our tanks to the roof cleaning pumps, at the end of each day.

However, we "leave the pumps wet and primed" everyday now, and we have not had any pump problems in nearly 2 years, with the trusty 1/2 inch Kynar Yamada Pumps.

Guest

Chris, running water back into the tank would only weaken it if you don't compensate with the proper amount of SH. With that being said, on the days I do two roofs I don't rinse in between jobs,..only when I'm done for the day.

Your numbers for wasted mix is a moot point. There is no excuse for running mix onto the ground, if this is what your employees would do in the case of rinsing, I'd be worried what else they do when no one is looking.

Rinsing takes me about 20 extra seconds a day,..turn SH valve off and turn water valve on,..and do other things while it's rinsing. I'd much rather spend those 20 seconds a day rinsing than coiling 200' of hose everytime. ESPECIALLY if I was doing 3-5 roofs a day.

Jeff

Mr Maintenance · Jan 10, 2014

Jeff I agree with rinsing, it solves a lot of problems. My all flow does not need to be rinsed but I do it anyway. As far as my hose reels , those also get rinsed everyday or after every job. It takes less than 2 minutes to rinse back into the mix tank and if you watch while rinsing the change over to water is easy to see. I have 3 full seasons on my Titan hose reels and original swivels with not one problem. But I also agree that time is money and anything to get the job done quicker is good in my book.

RCIA Founder

Raystown Roof Cleaning Central PA 1-800-236-0322 wrote:
Chris, running water back into the tank would only weaken it if you don't compensate with the proper amount of SH. With that being said, on the days I do two roofs I don't rinse in between jobs,..only when I'm done for the day.

Your numbers for wasted mix is a moot point. There is no excuse for running mix onto the ground, if this is what your employees would do in the case of rinsing, I'd be worried what else they do when no one is looking.

Rinsing takes me about 20 extra seconds a day,..turn SH valve off and turn water valve on,..and do other things while it's rinsing. I'd much rather spend those 20 seconds a day rinsing than coiling 200' of hose everytime. ESPECIALLY if I was doing 3-5 roofs a day.

Jeff

We are not pressure washers Jeff, we are pure roof cleaners. We don't carry any water on our trucks to feed our pressure washers, etc, etc, because we don't own any pressure washers.

Back when we needed to rinse stuff out (we don't anymore), we had valves with garden hose fittings on them, to get water from the house, into our system.

That was always a royal PITA!

"Coiling" 200 feet of hose was never a problem for me, since I simply wrapped my hose around a large plastic box on the back of my flatbeds.

Hose Reels and swivels never held up for us, for very long, even if they were rinsed out!

They break, and they leak, and their small inside manifolds, combined with the tightly coiled hose, effect both pressure and flow of our pumps.

Remember, we do a lot of TILE ROOFS, and sometimes have to use really wicked strength roof cleaning mixtures.

Our roof cleaning system is designed for us, for what we do. In 20 years of cleaning roofs here in Tampa, it is by far the best system we have ever had.

Equipment failures are pretty much a thing of the past, and so is rinsing biggrin

My employees just left the office here to go do their jobs for the day.

They enjoy the freedom from rinsing.

They will pull up to their first jobs, take out their hose, get up on the roof, and start spraying.

When they are done, they will simply wrap the hose back around the large plastic box on the flatbed that holds our tarps.

Then, on to the next roof cleaning job, and repeat.

At the end of the day, they simply park the truck, and it is ready to roll for tomorrow.

This is how we roll.

Mr Maintenance · Jan 10, 2014

Chris your system is a proven method and it works. I think the point Jeff is making is that we a have different ways we do things. I personly carry water and pressure washer but that is because 90% of the homes here in NH are on wells and putting a beating on a customers well can burn up there pump. I don't mind rinsing as it is part of the job as a roof cleaner in NH. I have not had one break or leak in years . I have all my original hose ,fittings ,swivels,hose reels and I just replaced my original Fat boys. So for me rinsing works for me and saves me money on parts and breakdowns. But everyone is different.

RCIA Founder

Mr Maintenance wrote:
Chris your system is a proven method and it works. I think the point Jeff is making is that we a have different ways we do things. I personly carry water and pressure washer but that is because 90% of the homes here in NH are on wells and putting a beating on a customers well can burn up there pump. I don't mind rinsing as it is part of the job as a roof cleaner in NH. I have not had one break or leak in years . I have all my original hose ,fittings ,swivels,hose reels and I just replaced my original Fat boys. So for me rinsing works for me and saves me money on parts and breakdowns. But everyone is different.

Yes, we must all use what works, for us.

We all live in different areas, and some of us clean more roofs then others do.

What may work for some of us, may not work well for everyone.

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum "Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

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"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"